My gaze softened. “He’s perfect. He’s a healthy seven pound, six ounce boy and already has a full head of dark hair.”

She sighed, closing her eyes as if thanking someone from up above for answering her silent prayers.

“Can I see him?” she asked, her voice growing lazy as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“You will,” I promised. “But you need your rest. Everything’s going to be okay.” I planted a soft kiss on her forehead. “You won’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not ever again. It’s finally over.”

Mackenzie

A WEEK AFTER BEING shot by my father to save my life, I lay in the hospital bed, surrounded by all my friends and family as they fussed over the little bundle I held in my arms. It took me a few days to finally be able to stay awake for longer than five minutes at a time, and once I felt the pain all over my body, I knew why the doctors had been keeping me drugged. It would still be a few weeks until I could comfortably walk around, but I didn’t care. I was here and so was my son.

I looked to my right, Tyler standing there with a wide grin on his face. He had spent nearly every minute at my side, vowing to stay with me until I was strong enough to leave which, according to the doctors who had checked on me this morning, could be tomorrow. I was itching to finally leave this hospital…as a family.

“Have you picked out a name yet?” Jenna asked.

I met her brilliant blue eyes and smiled warmly. Over the past few days, she had apologized over and over again about what Richard had done, how she should have seen the signs, how she should have known there was something off about him. But there was no way for her to know any of that. I had trusted him, too, thinking he was the perfect catch for someone like Jenna. He was charming, smart, debonair, always knew what to say and when to say it. He had put on the perfect act and we all fell for it. Brayden had been doing his best to keep her mind off of everything. He even went to the hotel, packed all her belongings, and relocated her to my old condo, which had been released and was no longer considered a crime scene.

“Yes,” I said. “Francis Charles Burnham… Charlie for short,” I said with a slight lump in my throat.

“He looks like a Charlie,” Brayden commented.

“Well,” Colleen said, leaning down to kiss her grandson on the forehead. “Welcome to the family, little man. You better give your father as hard a time as he gave me when he was growing up.”

“Hey!” Tyler exclaimed. “I was a complete angel. At least compared to him, I was.” He gestured to Alexander.

“Oh, really?” Alexander said, rushing his brother and putting him in a headlock.

“Boys!” a small voice shouted. We all turned our heads to see little Melanie standing next to Olivia, her hand on her hip in mock irritation. “Play nice! Or Grandma’s going to take away your toys. Isn’t that right?” she asked, looking toward Colleen.

Shrugging, she responded, “That usually is the punishment.” She winked.

“Well, I’m sure you’re tired,” Jenna said, squeezing my arm. “Why don’t you get some rest? We’ll stop by in the next few days when you’re all settled back at home, okay?”

I nodded. “I’d like that.”

Everyone said their goodbyes and began to file out of the room. “Dad, wait,” I said, grabbing his hand as he was about to follow everyone else.

“Yes, mi bichito?” he asked, his eyes brimming with love and affection.

Once the last person had left and it was just Tyler and us, I faced him. His shoulder was in a sling, but other than that, it didn’t appear as if he had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest just a week ago. “How did you know?” I asked. The question had been eating me up for days.

“Know what?”

“Where I would be?”

A smile crossed his face as he kept my hand clasped in his. “I knew Agent Suarez was dirty, particularly when I made arrangements to turn myself in and he asked me to surrender at a location other than the local police department. When he took me into ‘custody’, he didn’t really search me too well, so as he was driving around the island with me handcuffed in the back seat, I put one of my old skills to use. It’s amazing what a bobby pin can get you out of these days.” He winked.

“So you got out of your handcuffs, then what?”

“Suarez stopped in front of the house, saying it would be his big pay day. When he opened the back door to let me out, I easily overtook him and snatched his weapon from him. Then I made him call 911 and confess to everything. How do you think the police arrived so quickly?”

He raised his eyebrows at me, a satisfied look crossing his face. “It’s a good thing, too, because during the internal investigation, they found a video file Suarez must have confiscated when looking into Charlie’s death. Charlie hid a camera in your condo and got his murder on video, including Richard’s confession beforehand. He always was a smart guy.” He squeezed my arm and I fought the lump in my throat now that I had confirmation Charlie had sacrificed himself in his quest for the truth. Kissing me on the temple, my dad walked away, leaving Tyler and me alone.

“So he knew all along…,” Tyler mused.

“What do you mean by that?”

“He came to me that day and said he was going to turn himself in. He must have known it was a setup and that he would finally be able to put everything to rest.” He slouched into his chair. “Damn. He’s good.”

A small laugh escaped my mouth. “He was in Counterintelligence, after all. What did you expect? The truth?”

 I tore my eyes from Tyler’s as little Charlie began to stir. I still couldn’t believe we had created this adorable little man in my arms. I never saw myself being a mother, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it, even though he was only a week old. For the first time, I got it. I understood why my father had done what he did all those years ago. I knew I would do everything I could to keep Charlie safe, and that was exactly what my father had done.

Over the past week, I had begun to process everything that had happened. All of the questions I had been searching for were answered. I finally had the closure I had looked for throughout the years. Now that Richard was dead and the truth was revealed, I no longer had to hide who I was. I could finally be me again. The only thing that was missing was Damian. I was desperate to know if anyone had found him, but Tyler only said he was waiting on news. I didn’t know if that meant he was still looking into it or he was trying to shield me from the truth.

Tyler’s cell buzzed, bringing me out of my thoughts. He grabbed it off the side table and looked at the screen before turning to me.

“I need to step out for a minute. Want me to put him down?”

I nodded, my arm growing tired.

I gave Charlie a kiss on the forehead and allowed Tyler to place him in his crib beside me.

“I’ll be right back,” Tyler said as he headed toward the door. Just as he was about to walk outside, he glanced over his shoulder. “I love you, Mrs. Burnham.”

I smiled. “And I love you. Now hurry back. I miss you already.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the momentary break from visitors.

What seemed like seconds later, the door opened once more and Tyler walked in, a man who was about six-foot with dark scraggly hair and medium build following. I met his eyes through his glasses and gasped, wishing I could get out of my hospital bed and run. But I was still sore, and probably couldn’t make it more than a few steps without needing to take a break.